


I hold you dear

by neverminetohold



Category: Thor (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon, Brother Feels, Family, Gen, Post-Movie(s)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-16
Updated: 2013-09-16
Packaged: 2017-12-26 19:06:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 585
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/969236
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/neverminetohold/pseuds/neverminetohold
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The golden apple is an offering, given freely, because just as Thor must reach out, so Loki must too.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I hold you dear

Thor let go of Mjölnir when the forest opened up around him to reveal the clearing. The hammer fell into the grass, its impact a shock traveling deep into the rich soil, the spark of lightning faint in the glare of Asgard's three suns.  
  
He turned an apple over in his hand, fingertips tracing the smooth, golden skin. Its fragrance rose sweet into the air, almost covered by the smell of oiled chain mail, leather, stale mead and the faint traces of Idun's gardens.  
  
Here there were less flowers in full bloom. Untamed they fought their way through the undergrowth, dotting the grass in yellows and blues. Thor stepped around them as birds fell silent, their twitter replaced by the angry buzz of insects. Startled by the drag of his cape over blades of grass they took flight.  
  
The breeze that tugged at Thor's hair made them scatter, and cooled his skin. He stopped before the pond, its image vivid in childhood memories he held dear, and found its surface placid like a mirror, eerily undisturbed, as clouds seemed to glide across it.  
  
His own pale face stared back at him, eyes squinting against the sunlight and circled by dark smudges that told their tale of how sleep eluded him ever since... Ever since.  
  
He settled down in a place that already knew the shape and weight of his body, bore the marks of where his fingers had dug into the earth until his nails had been filled with dirt and torn bloody.  
  
"Loki," he said, voice too raw to rise above a whisper. "My brother."  
  
Nothing happened. For seconds, for minutes, for hours. But Thor had learned to be patient and he hoped for the day that Loki would give him the chance to learn to listen, too.  
  
All three suns were hanging low when something stirred in the clearing's atmosphere. Birds that had grown accustomed to his silent vigil fled towards the burning sky as wild magic whispered and roiled and singed their nerves.  
  
The pond's surface rippled. Water so clear one could see the silver flicker of darting fish and the sparkle of its glass-like ground turned opaque, a dark blue bordering on black.  
  
A form took shape, first a smudge, then something achingly familiar, until Loki stared up at him, face placid like the pond had been. Meeting vibrant green eyes, Thor could not discern any emotions, but his knowledge of magic was crude at best, and this was not the time to risk a word wrong spoken.  
  
"Loki."  
  
Not expecting an answer or any reaction at all, no matter how he may long for it, Thor extended his hand, offering Idun's apple to his brothers' reflection. Surely Loki had other means to see to his needs, such that were free of all that could have hoped to bind him to Asgard, but this was a gesture of faith and love and hope, underlined by a crime committed, and Thor knew Loki would appreciate it for the spirit it was given in.  
  
A hand reached through the water in a silver ripple, not marred by a single drop of liquid, and dry as the wide green sleeve that clad it. Loki took hold of the apple, his grip on it delicate, waiting for Thor to let go.  
  
Thor bowed his head and closed his eyes, not wanting to watch as his brother vanished. Their fingertips had touched, the slightest brush of skin.  
  
Loki's touch had been solid, and cold as ice.


End file.
